Driver Charged With DWI After Passenger Dies In Gastonia Crash

A man has been charged with driving while impaired in a single-vehicle accident in Gastonia in which a woman suffered fatal personal injuries.

According to Gastonia police, 26-year-old Johnetta McLean received transport to Gaston Memorial Hospital after the crash, but died there on the morning of September 20 from the injuries she sustained in the crash.

McLean was a passenger in a 1995 Cadillac driven by 37-year-old Marcus Wakefield. Police say that Wakefield lost control of the vehicle, which then ran off the road to the left and overturned, coming to rest in a creek.

Police say Wakefield was able to extract himself from the car, but McLean was trapped and emergency personnel had to extract her.

Wakefield also received hospital transport, but was released after treatment. Officials say he had not been imprisoned as of the afternoon of the crash.